worked from six in the morning until night most of the time, and their guests at dinner were a strange company of Douglas's trainers and the professional wits and 'yes-men who eternally clung to him. Mary sat at the head of the table; Douglas, dark and prankish, sat at her side, sometimes disappearing under the table to frighten people by grabbing at their ankles, occasionally vanishing to be found, later, in the chandelier; always there was, some- w here, a chair wired so that the most important guest would get an electric shock when he sat down. Mary, in the midst of these an tics, remained pleasant but curiously grave. She had not then, and still has not, many intimate women friends. Sometimes Frances Marion, the scenario-writer, or Lillian Gish would come to dinner, but Mary was, more often than not, the only woman at the table. N eithe'r she nor Douglas drank anything at all -not from any moral conviction, but because Douglas at that time had never tasted liquor, and Mary had no interest in it; rather bad drinks were served, however, to any guests who wanted them. At ten o'clock, a butler passed a tray with cups of Ovaltine or a dish of fruit. After that, people usually went home. Outwardly, their life was exciting enough. That they were king and queen of Hollywood was no fan-writ- er's dream; their position there was unique to an al- most fantastic degree. People who had not been asked to visit Pickfair began to refer to it bitterly as Buckingham Pal- ace. A première of any pic- ture at Grauman's Chinese Theatre never started until Mary and Douglas were in their seats. Once, when Mary arrived a little late at a tea where the screen's most glamorous feminine stars were assembled, every wom- an in the room stood up as she entered. Hostesses all over town willingly ruined their table arrangements by chang- ing the placecards so that Mary and Douglas might sit next to each other at din- ner; it was an accepted rule that they never be separated, at their own or at any other table. At home, Douglas sat at Mary's left, and the guest of honor, whether a man or 30 a woman, at her right; nobody ever sat at Douglas's right except Mary. At parties, they danced only with each other. Mary says now that this strange pact was Douglas's idea, not hers, and that she began to find it less enchant- ing when he pointed out to her on one occasion, when Prince George visited Pickfair, that it also prevented her from dancing with His Royal High- n eSSe A dinner or a weekend at Pickfair soon became a part of the schedule planned for any visitor of distinction arriving in Hollywood, and with the coming of royalty, things at the F air- bankses' house grew livelier. The Crown Prince (now King) of Siam liked his dinner party there so much that he had his equerry telephone twice during the following week to ask whether he and his Princess might come again, in- formally. Dinner was always prepared for fifteen, whether fifteen people or three eventually sat down to it; when "; "'., . .../. .... - :;,Jt" .j.; ) ':' : j; .: ,. : "tr ; API\IL 7, 1934 Mary and Douglas were working, it was served whenever they got home from the studio, sometimes as late as ten or eleven. Mary had fourteen servants, but on one occasion even these were not enough. A certain duke whom Mary and Douglas had, in Eu- rope, casually invited to come and stay with them some time in Hollywood arrived, some months later, and an- nounced that his party numbered sev- enteen. It was only by persuading Mr. Chaplin to move out of his house near- by that the host and hostess, startled but pleased, were able to provide for the retinue. This was all pretty good fun, but Mary was not entirely happy. She is half Irish, with the Irish clan feeling strong in her, and she wasn't seeing enough of her own family. She would have preferred having her mother and Jack and Lottie around her rather than this endless pageantry of noble guests. There is nothing swanky about Mary; t._ j I "I'm sorry, sir, but we ain't been able to turn a wheel since our differential bearing went on exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art."